I love Audrey and I love the book, so I looked so much to see it - and I was really disapointed. Its so Hollywoodish! And Audrey is much too a lady for that Okie Holly was. I liked the Cat and Doc only - I was really sorry for him. But the scene, where he meets Holly, was terrible, I mean Audrey was terrible: she smiled at him like a duchess. Thes seemed to act in different films.

I just saw it for the first time today. I thought this movie would be amazing, since it's a "classic". I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels disappointed! I hated Holly, and I really wanted Paul to not end up with her, but they had to have a happy ending

This message has been deleted.

The first time I saw this movie, I loved it. The second time, I couldn't finish it. I'll give it another chance one of these days and see how I feel about it.
I love the theme song, though!
Here's to Henry Mancini!
~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

I really like Audrey Hepburn, so I decided I'd finally get around to watching this. I really didn't like it, either! Holly was so shallow and uncaring. The only part I really liked was when Paul basically told her she sucked at life. And the poor cat had to be reunited with her.
If only Paul had just found Cat, Holly still left, and Paul and Cat could have
been happy together
One should always be on the lookout for fiendish thingies when enjoying winter sports.

This message has been deleted.

This message has been deleted.

Why would you care much less be sad if others don't like this movie?

by - mablecheng1981 on Fri Aug 26 2011 04:07:10
"I knew this is a classic and finally got the chance to watch it today. However, I am truly disappointed."
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I disagree with yours on many levels but I respect your right to state yours
I saw this for the first time 30 something years ago. I liked it. Over the years I Loved it because I grew to understand what was really going on with the characters. My hope is that some of the people here who didn't understand it will give it another try later on in life.
"None of the character is likable."
You're right. They aren't perfect. They are flawed, mixed up and in search of happiness in all the wrong places.
In other words, they are human.
"Holly is , to put it simply, rather shallow, superficial and pretentious.."
This is where I wonder if we even saw the same movie.
Shallow, superficial and pretentious was all a front for just how scared this girl was.
Doc told Paul how he found her and her brother. They came from people who treated them with cruelty. She and her brother had only each other. Her brother was slow and she was just a little 14 year old girl trying to hold it together for both of them. She was still trying when she and Paul met. She was trying to save up enough money so that she and Fred could have a good life once he got out of the Army. How?
That leads us to your next staement.
"Paul, a male prostitute!"
He was! Paul let a wealthy woman keep him. Holly was a prostitute too!
She may have taken $50.00 from men for the powder room, but I have no doubt that she did more for her money than just going to the bathroom.
She was afraid of love. Somewhere before she met Doc, who tried to treat her right, she had been hurt terribly. Because of that, she didn't trust anyone to allow them to get too close to her. Not even Cat.
"The Japanese character is the director's disgrace."
Not many people like Mickey Rooney in this. The part is so small,
I don't even think about it that much. He's sort of funny to me, but
that's just my opinion.
"I can't believe this was written by Truman Capote who wrote In Cold Blood."
You shouldn't. What Truman Capote wrote was nothing like you see in the film.
I'd love to know what you think of the book.
"On the other hand, it shows how people's value change over time. I know this is a 1961 film after all."
It's nice to know that you are open minded. Once again, I do hope you will one day watch this again.
To all of my fellow cat lovers out there, every time I see this movie my heart breaks when she shoves him out of that cab and even though I know what's coming, I still hold my breath until she finds him and holds him in her arms. After that I cry happy tears for Holly, Paul.
and especially Cat!
I love this movie. It makes me kind of sad to know that there are people who don't. It's ok though. Life would be quite dull if we all liked the same things.
"Fasten your seat belts!
It's going to be a bumpy night!"

I just saw it tonight in a special theater screening (I had intended to watch it at home "eventually") but I have to agree with you: I was disappointed.
That being said, I think it's really difficult to watch films out of their original context. I've gone back and watched films that I've "loved" before and now they are only average at best. That being said I have watched many classic films and not been disappointed at allbut this one was NOT one of those!
It was cool to see such an old film on the big screen though! It looked great.

This message has been deleted.

But the film has so much more than Holly, each character is memorable.

Agree 100%. I've given the movie multiple chances but beep, her character is so annoying and useless. Maybe it's becauseI've known enough glossy bits of trash like her in real life that the amusement factor wears thin pretty quick.

I will admit that Holly was pretty flawed with her personality (although the end indicates her personality will develop for the better), though in context
Breakfast at Tiffany's
is about Holly being in conflict with herself. So her personality being flawed is no surprise. A pivotal scene was when Holly and Paul watch the stripper in the bar. Holly seems to be disgusted by her and thinks she is better than the stripper when in reality there is not much different between them as they are both selling a part of themselves to make money. It may come across as hypocritical on Holly's part but its just one aspect which builds up the theme of identity crisis in
Breakfast at Tiffany's
.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".

This movie is awesome.

I rewatched this after a period of years and now at the age of 57 I found it a nice film about a period of time when I was only a chiid. I could very much identify with "paul's" wanting to love and take care of this sort of woman child that Holly was. I think he finally had enough after repeatedly being drawn into her drama and problems when she put 'cat' out in the rain to fend for himself and I was glad he had the courage to leave her in the cab and make her accountable for herself to go and find 'cat' back. I liked the ending but I seriously doubt they could live happily ever after, but whatever happened it was an interesting capsule of the times and interaction of characters.

they're just as unattainable and have their price for their company or friendship
I know this is an old post, but would you elaborate on the above statement? I've never heard a man say that precise thing about women, and would love to know more.
BBL

Not to put too fine a point on this, but Sex and the City, countless pop stars that expose themselves (Kim Kardashian et al.) yeah, I think society wants women to devalue their creativity and intelligence, sadly.
As to the movie, loved it.
We have a pretty varied age group (40ish guys, 20ish guys, early 30 guys) and the 20something loved Holly, he was like "Alright she's awesome! She parties nonstop, is a little crazy and she looks SO HOT in that black dress!"
I can't really get mad at Holly bceause I've seen so many women (and men) like her just in my day to day life, that want the next big thing, want to be the center of attention and they might not get paid for it but they're just as unattainable and have their price for their company or friendship. Paul seems like a decent enough guy but he too had to compromise himself for life's wages.

"When Tiffany's was made, Holly did not seem close to any kind of popular model of what a young, stylish contemporary woman should be like, but in today's world she is, and this means the film appears weighed down with a claim on what is the way to succeed for a woman, in general, and what we have to accept (as men or women) to be perceived as bright modern people."
Do you really believe that prostitutes are role models for women today?

Good points, but part of the issues one can have with the film and the lead character is that,
in today's Hollywood
the arenas for wit, banter and mutual challenge have mostly become single-gendered instead of male-vs-female. We get movies about bands of young women prowling through cityscapes, schools and jobs - and on the other hand, lad reels about young men, soldiers, cops or college guys - only interacting within their own gang. And like it or not, our way of reading older films is coloured by the conventions of film-making today.
Now imagine a film about a bunch of Hollies, all of them as flawed, volatile, careless and prone to shift their own goals by a whim - and all of them conveniently rich. It would be intolerable to many of us, but today that kind of film is lucrative stuff, and it's not even considered quite okay to say you don't sympathize with those characters. If you do, you are played off as someone who basically despises women. When Tiffany's was made, Holly did not seem close to any kind of popular model of what a young, stylish contemporary woman should be like, but in today's world she is, and this means the film appears weighed down with a claim on what is the way to succeed for a woman, in general, and what we have to accept (as men or women) to be perceived as bright modern people.
You are a lunatic, Sir, and you're going to end up on the Russian front. I have a car waiting.

Late to this discussion, but your response got me thinking why I like this movie so much. I think the style of the film is really a comment on the generation. Which, to me, is lacking in today's "comedies". It has a really sharp wit and has a female character that is incredibly fierce in her goals. But deep inside she's broken and flawed. And doesn't come to grips with reality until it hits her (re: her real brother Fred). I think the point of the film was illustrate the contrast between who we are deep down inside and who we want to be, and ultimately be happy for who we are. The flaw is that the real Holly Golightly would probably be murdered in some shipyard somewhere, by a jealous longshoresman. In the book, they claim she was killed and had her head shrunken by some tribe in Africa. I met my own Holly Golightly in college. She had that same whimsy and I fell really hard for her. But she isn't a caged person. She floats from person to person. Being exactly who you want her to be. And living on her own terms, fake or not. That is really an intoxicating person.

Of course Holly was shallow, that's the point of the film. At the end of the movie she grows out of her shallowness. It's called character development.

Everybody's taste varies- personally I love the film, beautifully acted, gorgeous, memorable music and characters with flaws, not cardboard cut outs we are supposed to identify with- rubbish, Holly was totally flawed and I loved her character, it entertained, each time I watch the film I enjoy it more. Finest performance Buddy Ebsen ever gave on film is in the part of Doc, her ex husband, the point is Holly really does not know what she wants, she lives in a dreamworld, it's a beautifully made film but obviously not to everyone's taste, no film ever is, classic or not.

Holly is , to put it simply, rather shallow, superficial and pretentious
That is how she's intended to be, at first. She and Paul were people who were 'lost' and trying to find more legitimate foundations to build their lives on. They were looking in the wrong directions, then discovered they could lean on each other and try to build their lives together.
As for the Japanese character, a lot of people make a big deal about him. I like to think of him as some random crazy person who wants attention. I used to have a neighbor like that